1.
cutting corners; sloppy work; half-hearted effort
Deliberately doing less work than required or skipping steps to save time or effort, often resulting in lower quality.
手抜き工事が問題になった。
Shoddy construction work became a problem.
掃除を手抜きしてしまった。
I cut corners on the cleaning.
手抜き料理でも美味しくできる。
Even easy-prep meals can turn out delicious.
ETYMOLOGY:
手 (hand) + 抜き (omitting, skipping) - literally removing hands from the work.
USAGE:
Can be:
- Negative: implying sloppy or irresponsible work
- Neutral/positive: when referring to efficient shortcuts (手抜き料理 = easy recipes)
COMMON COMPOUNDS:
- 手抜き工事 - shoddy construction
- 手抜き料理 - easy-prep cooking
COLLOCATIONS:
- 手抜きをする - to cut corners
- 手抜きが見つかる - corner-cutting is discovered